Chapter 129: Chapter 128: Meeting
Hua's gaze turned to Mei. She saw no changes on her face whatsoever.
'I am missing something.'
As a soldier who fought for more than half a year, Hua learned how to properly analyze her surroundings. She wasn't as rash as the time during the third eruption.
She sat on one of the available seats, waiting for the explanation to come.
Nevertheless…
'I wonder who she is…'
A weird feeling came to Hua. She could not properly describe it. Though, it was for certain that it made her uncomfortable.
On the other hand, Kurumi took the initiative to get off Aleph's lap. She then sat on his right. Mei took the remaining space on their sofa, while Mobius sat opposite them.
No words were said, yet the temperature inside the air-conditioned lounge decreased slightly.
'...Yeah. This is my fault.'
When the three met together for the first time, Aleph asked this question once to Great Sage. The response that he got was:
{Result: Women may have a specific phase whereas they face contradictory feelings, which may result in improper expression and misunderstandings…}
Simply put, girls could act like that. They accepted the common consensus—that the three of them would share Aleph—but a part of them that wanted him solely for themselves remained.
He thought for a while before he acted out. He decided to point out the invisible elephant inside the room first.
"It should be time to show yourself, Sakura."
The moment Aleph spoke, Sakura undid her technique. She appeared out of nowhere in a blink of an eye. There weren't any visual indicators.
"I apologize if it was disrespectful."
Aleph met the pink-haired fox's gaze. Without the hood to disguise her fox-like ears, it was particularly prominent.
He understood the words she did not say just now.
'She thought it would be inappropriate to interrupt us…'
After a silent apology, Aleph spoke to Hua.
"How was it?"
"It is alright…"
Unlike Hua's original indictment as a MANTIS, she received the surgery instead. It removed her chances of activating Garuda's Active Honkai Reaction during a fight, though it was nothing but the price she paid to acquire it earlier.
"Let's spar later… and Sakura too."
"Hum..?"
Sakura instinctively grasped the sheathed blade by her waist. She could still recall the beatdown they received a few months back.
"Hum, forget about it. I will fight everyone else." Aleph spoke after a light exhale. "Sakura, Hua, Kevin, Elysia, and Anna. I will fight you all together."
Hua and Sakura could not speak for a while.
"You are planning to destroy my laboratory, no?"
Mobius said with a sarcastic tone.
"We won't fight inside. There's an unused airfield outside."
"What kind of battle are you planning to have?" She asked again.
"A serious one."
Aleph smiled as he said so. His right hand was still being played by Kurumi. Mei and Mobius saw his somewhat evil smile, however.
"Shall I ready the medical bay?"
Mei asked with a serious tone.
"There's no need. I learned a new technique that could heal injuries."
Hearing Aleph's revelation, Sakura swiftly turned her gaze to him.
The former paused before he continued explaining, "I am not sure when I would be able to teach it to others. It's different from the previous ones I taught."
"Hum."
Over the course of a few months, Sakura learned what Aleph gave to her. That included Sasaki's experiences in swordsmanship, as well as the Sphere Boundary. This technique simply fitted her skillset like a glove.
The only thing she could not learn as of now was Juezhao.
'Another technique… Senior Aleph learned a new one again…' Hua thought.
The exact opposite could be said to Hua. She learned Juezhao swiftly. Her previously learned techniques were already similar to it. That technique fitted her as much as the Sphere Boundary did to Sakura.
The two women knew how flawless the techniques they learned were. It was certainly more difficult to pioneer such a technique.
While they were talking about these things, Kevin arrived along with the two latecomers.
The Miss Pink Elf immediately saw through the silent tension inside the room. Her gaze also met with the unfamiliar girl sitting beside Aleph.
Seeing so many new things, a question came out of Elysia's mouth.
"When will this meeting start?"
*****
There was a conference room in the fifth institute. It was more than enough to hold a large meeting. Although, Aleph thought it would be nice to have a change of atmosphere.
"I wanted to talk about the sixth Herrscher… and the potential dangers she might bring."
Aleph stood up from his seat a while ago. He was currently standing as he discussed in a serious mood.
"But first, I have something to confess… to everyone here." He paused before he continued, "Aside from my eyes, I have another power. The power to see the future… once."
Nobody raised any questions and the likes.
"Some people inside this room might have wondered. Some of my actions seem a bit rushed. That was because of that one future I saw."
The original trajectory of the Previous Era unfolded from Aleph's words. It was fragmented, certainly, but it was enough to tell everyone inside this room of the future they were headed into.
From the third eruption up until humanity's demise in the hands of the fourteenth, Aleph talked about it. He talked for more than fifteen minutes straight detailing most of the things he knew regarding the Previous Era.
Everyone fell silent. They digested what was revealed to them. Only Mobius, Mei, and Kurumi remained the same.
Aleph let the rest be.
'It is better like this. It will only be worse if they do not have any awareness of our current situation, though it will bring them more pressure…'
This meeting was something he decided on after a careful deliberation. Instead of keeping them in the blind, it is much better for them to know of the dangers they are facing.
The only difference between Aleph and Aponia was that the former confidently confided everything he knew. Aponia's original trajectory cursed her to never be able to change the future she saw. Be it revealing her visions to someone or attempting to change their 'threads', it did not work.
"Aleph. What are you planning to do?"
Mei was the first person to ask a question. They already talked about this revelation yesterday. It wasn't just her. Mobius and Kurumi were the same.
"That's simple. That future needs to be changed."
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